It's easy enough to register for the Tri City Herald, and I grew up in Richland. So I posted this response to little Mikey:

Those of us in the windsurfing community know Mike Vick as a hard right commentator who isn’t always scrupulous with his research, or with citing his sources. Keep in mind that on global warming, the carbon industries—coal and oil—have spent $250 million lobbying Congress. At stake are billions in Federal subsidies for oil and coal. That $250 million has paid for many web sites that parrot the talking points of the oil and coal industries, and Mike faithfully copies their talking points, adding his own vitriol.

However, as one of the self-claimed architects of the Star Wars Program, the missile interception program that spent over $100 billion but never managed to intercept a missile, I think you can trust Mike on one thing. He knows a wasteful Federal program when he sees one.

"...as one of the self-claimed architects of the Star Wars Program..."

isobars tries to leverage off his past by presenting himself as important, and more specfically, as a no nonsense and "high caliber" manager. How many times has he bragged here about kicking somebody's ass and strutting his stuff?

Myself, after over 32 years in the private aerospace industry, and having set up and managed a large number of critical defense and civil space subcontracts, I could brag about my achievements on many high profile programs, but do I do that here?

We have to remember that the US Military trims its staff of "career" military guys in their early to mid forties. It's kind of like cleaning house, and exiting the lower fruit that have less potential overall. The longer they stay, things just get more expensive for the American taxpayer, so it makes good business sense to trim the dead wood a bit. They usually get a promotion at the time of their retirement to take off the hard edge of their predicament of suddenly becoming unemployed. Seemingly isobars elected to let his wife float the boat while he played. How convenient.

So after over 20 years of retirement, he's now become a predicable shill for the crazy hard right, "liberally" pasting their nonsense here. Even without any credible support or synergy from others here, he stumbles around offering us his hateful diatribe on multiple topics. Given the fact that he eagerly brags about censorship of voices here with abandon, one has to question his commitment to the American way. In my mind, he's out of bounds in so many ways.

I can't emphasize enough how glad I am that the interests that isobars audaciously supports are out of power now. What a bunch of rabid wingnuts.

... I know that is simplistic but it's my gut feeling when I think about the risks that the progressive Iranians are doing to fight the slide of radicalization of their government- and wonder- where is the outcry from Iraq and Aghganistan and why aren't they out in droves risking their lives to suppress the Taliban and voice their opposition to... And where are all the Imams when things like the attempted take down of the Delta plane occurs? And all the other daily occurances of violence and suppressions in the name of jihad occur? They claim to be a peaceful religion yet why are they quiet about all the things done in the name of their religion. I think they should be speaking up- they are leaders. …

I think we are making a mistake expecting all islamic clerics to take positions on what is happening on the fringes of their religion. This is not the roman catholic church with a highly hierarchal structure. Islam today seems to be a religion very much in turmoil, where moderates are hanging on by a thread and pressure from the west destabilizes the situation further.

The last time we have seen support being expressed across the muslim world was after 9/11 when nearly all islamic officials or leaders - even the Taliban - were unified in the condemnation of the crime that had been perpetrated.

Unfortunately, the US administration under GW Bush used the occasion as an opportunity to draw political capital for an ambitious agenda that clearly went beyond the scope of any sensible reaction to 9/11. They did so by declaring this crime an act of war which gave them the power to impose soft martial law (aka "patriot act") and raise popular support for protracted wars (in the process, they also managed to succeed in re-defining potential allies as potential adversaries with their demand for unconditional support for US action).

This definition neglects the simple truth that these murderers were/are not acting in the interest of a people; they are pursuing nothing but their personal redemption. What they committed in 2001 is not an act of war; it is a crime, no more no less.

We will go much further by recognizing the fact that islamic radicalism works against all our interests and acknowledging the huge blood toll terrorism exacts from the islamic majority._________________florian - ny22

we are wasting money and blood on hopeless wars in Iraq and Aghganistan

we give no support to the brave people in Iran who are out in the streets risking their lives for democracy.

where is the outcry from Iraq and Aghganistan and why aren't they out in droves risking their lives to suppress the Taliban and voice their opposition

And where are all the Imams when things like the attempted take down of the Delta plane occurs? And all the other daily occurances of violence and suppressions in the name of jihad occur? They claim to be a peaceful religion yet why are they quiet about all the things done in the name of their religion. I think they should be speaking up- they are leaders.

Actually I don't think we should be involved with any- except verbally.

Time to cut our losses

Uh, the good guys pretty much won in Iraq, thanks to the surge, and probably can win in Afghanistan if allowed and equipped to fight. The only high-level defeatists I've heard say either war is already lost was Harry Reid, and that sorry, cowardly, fatalist, stupid son of a bitch raised the white flag years ago in Iraq.

If this administration were like most previous ones, we would be very much in the protests, trying like heck to get them to overthrow or kill guys like Ahmadinejad. I don't know whether this administration has the spine to do it.

Any Afghani who says a peep will be slaughtered in some horrible way the minute we pull out. They are scared flat to death of July, 2011 that boiling oil will be poured down their and their children's throats, or something worse, when the people who lack the guts to win this war throw in the towel without one last far-more-earnest try.

Many imams are starting to protest terrorism in public. Whether that's sincere I don't know.

How do verbs prevent airliners from raining down on American cities, as we averted by just days a year or two ago? How will verbs save Israel from nuclear annihilation and NYC from nuclear decimation? Save the U.S. from an EMP burst 200 miles over Nebraska which will destroy our nation (I hate to break it to you folks, but we've known about that capability for many decades; it's not a rumor)? The present administration's wimpy talk and total capitulation (bowing to foreign leaders is far more devastating than wimpy talk) is making us a laughing stock worldwide.

"Cutting our losses" in Afghanistan before trying one last Iraq-surge-like attempt could prove avoidably fatal to millions of people, according to even the most doubtful military experts I've seen discuss this war. Others are more convinced it's still winnable. The LAST fools we should listen to are any media anchors, considering how strongly Walter Cronkite contributed to the deaths of millions of Southeast Asian people and tens of thousands of U.S. soldiers.

Last edited by isobars on Tue Dec 29, 2009 1:54 pm; edited 1 time in total

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